Tholomew



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK H. BARTHOLOMEYV, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ANTIFROST-FAUCET.

Speccation of Letters Patent No. 16,043, dated November 11, 1856.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. BAR- 'rI-IoLoMEw, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Faucets for Drawing Water, &c., the purpose of which invention is to avoid the injury by freezing of faucets or cocks; and I hereby declare the following to be a full and proper description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference thereon, the same making a part of this specification.

It is well known that the ordinary turning plug or key cock in general use is readily rendered leaky and often useless in consequence of being frozen and that many cocks are, when used, necessarily arranged in places where they are subject to the action of freezing. It is found that the barrels (that part of the cock into which the key is ground and in which it turns) of cocks that have been frozen have become swelled or expanded and made leaky, and this is attributable to the expanding of the water which is shut up and closely confined in the water way of the plug of the cock when the water is stopped off, which water (having no outlet) upon becoming frozen necessarily eX- pands, and thus acts upon the barrel of the cock to open and expand it.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a remedy for this difhculty.

I apply my improvement to the ordinary turning plug or key cocks, well known and in long use-brass cocks.

Figure l, drawing, is a section of a cock shown with the plug in its place in a stopped position. Fig. 2 is a section of a draw cock or bib-cock without the plug, the dotted lines in the barrel showing in what position the water-way in the plug bears upon the inside of the barrel when the cock is stopped off or shut. Now in order to provide a means for escape of the water which is shut into the plug upon being turned to stop the main discharge I make two grooves in the barrel A, C, extending about one fourth around the internal circumference of the barrel so as to form an opening or passage between the discharge part or bib end of the cock and the opening or water way through the plug, when the plug is in a shut position, as shown in drawings, making said grooves as far apart as practicable, so that the grooves A shall be as high and the groove C as low as will allow and answer the purpose of discharging the contents of the plug as entirely as practicable, the groove A acting to admit air or vent into the plug and admitting to discharge through C the water therein. Instead of the two grooves one continuous groove or space may be employed extending from A to 0, or to such extentas to answer the desired purpose. Holes may otherwise be drilled through the barrel at points so as to discharge the contents of the plug outward, or instead of grooves A G extending horizontally, as shown, a groove may extend vertically alongside of the plug and terminate at the top and bottom of the barrel, or instead of that a drill hole at the top through the barrel to admit air or vent. These grooves may be cast in and may be made on both sides or one on each side of the barrel.

I am aware that stop and waste cocks, shower bath cocks and three-way plug cocks are used in which the contents of the plug can be discharged when the main passage is stopped. Such stop and waste cocks are made having a waste hole in the side of the barrel, say at D, Fig. 2, but such cocks necessarily have a hole also drilled in the plug so as to communicate between the outlet or discharge end of the cock and the opening through the plug to admit the pipe above the cock to waste. A plug thus drilled would not be suitable for a drawing cock or faucet, for it would admit the lever to be turned only one way to shut o, while the improvement made by me and herein described is adapted only to that kind of cocks which have no waste way formed in the plug and admit of turning and shutting in either direction.

What I claim therefore as my invention and improvement and for which I desire to secure Letters Patent is- The application of a waste way to draw cocks, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose described.

F. H. BARTHOLOMEW.

Vitnesses:

DAVID MORRISON, F. M. BARTHOLOMEW. 

